A Guelph Ontario Provincial Police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing in a high-speed pursuit that resulted in the death of an Arnprior woman who was struck by the fleeing vehicle in December 2015.

The officer, whose name was not released, was cleared by the SIU after they found there was no reasonable grounds to lay a criminal charge of dangerous driving causing death. The officer had chased a Ford Escape that had blown through a police RIDE checkpoint in downtown Guelph at 2:30 a.m. The officer was driving nearly 70 km/h over the speed limit with his emergency lights on when the driver of the SUV lost control and crashed.

Grace Glofcheskie, 24, was returning to her apartment in Guelph after walking a friend home when was she struck by the SUV as it skidded down the sidewalk. Glofcheskie, a recent graduate of the Guelph College of Biological Science, died in hospital later that morning.

In clearing the officer, SIU director Tony Loparco said evidence from security cameras and data from the police cruiser’s onboard automated vehicle log showed the officer was slowing down and backing off the chase in the moments before the crash. For the bulk of the 40-second, 1.2-kilometre chase the roads were empty and driving conditions were good.

The SUV, which was later found to have been stolen, crashed as the driver tried to turn onto a residential street at a five-way intersection. It was travelling between 116 km/h and 125 km/h when the driver lost control, the SIU found.

“The full body of evidence does not furnish me with reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officer is criminally culpable for Ms. Glofcheskie’s tragic death. Consequently, no charges will issue and this file will be closed,” Loparco said in a statement released Thursday.

The driver of the SUV ran from the scene, but was arrested two days later at a Guelph motel. Curtis Henry, 21, pleaded guilty last summer to charges of criminal negligence causing death, leaving the scene of an accident, possession of a stolen vehicle, breaking and entering, two counts of vehicle theft, and breaching probation.

Glofcheskie was a talented golfer and captain of the Guelph Gryphons golf team. The university and her family established a scholarship in her honour.